There must be quite a
few things a hot bath
won't cure, but I don't
know many of them.

Sylvia Plath

Today's
Meditation:

If there were one thing that I could make time for
every day to help keep me centered and to help lower my
stress, a hot bubble bath just might be it. During
the most stressful times of my life, I've often turned to
a hot bath for relief from the turmoil that surrounded me
and filled me, and rarely did the bath ever let me down.

Quite paradoxically, it's easy to search for complicated
fixes. Somehow, we're also taught to trust the expensive
remedies and cures more--after all, we get what we pay
for, no? And of course, we wouldn't want to try to
cure clinical depression or cancer with a hot bath--in
those cases, the expensive cure is most probably the
necessary path to take. But when we don't allow
ourselves the opportunity to slow down, relax, and enjoy
the soothing effects of hot water on our skin, then we may
never know just what a hot bath can do.

I'm astonished sometimes at the suspicion that some people
have of hot bubble baths. I've heard people say that
they're for lazy people and slackers, that they're a waste
of time, that they're for self-indulgent hedonists.
I even had someone ask me once, in all seriousness, if a
man taking a bubble bath meant that he was gay. Have
we as adults reached the point at which we can't simply
accept something for what it is and enjoy it for what it
is? A nice hot bath is something that many people
don't give themselves nearly often enough, for they've
somehow decided that they don't have the time, or it isn't
"serious" enough, or that a shower is a more
functional tool for cleaning themselves.

When I was in the Army, we had no baths. When we
live in our RV, as we're doing now, we have no
baths. Those times make me appreciate baths even
more. On cold days, I'll even go outside for a while
to get cold, just so that hot bath will feel even
better. Do yourself a favor, and give yourself the
luxury--or fulfill the necessity--of a nice, hot, relaxing
bath with no interruptions and perhaps some soft music
playing. Baths are not just for women, and they're
not just for special occasions. They're about taking
care of yourself and giving yourself the chance to soothe
your body and your mind.

Questions to
consider:

Why do so few people allow themselves the time to take a
long, hot bath?

If taking a hot bath can help to relieve stress and calm
the mind, then why aren't they used more often by the
people who can use them?

How can we make sure that things like baths are part of
our regular schedules in our lives? How can we
prioritize them?

For further
thought:

We start to realize that there are anodynes in life that
help us through the day. I don't care if it's a walk in
the park, a look out the window, a good bubble bath--
whatever. Even a meal you like, or a friend you want to
call. That helps us solve all this stuff in our head.

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